Car seat to take on holiday for 3 year old

[Sunshineandwiltshire]

Hi there,
Hoping for some advice or recommendations on a travel car seat for my 3 year old (will be just 3 when we go away)

After an awful car seat on holiday last year I have decided to get a seat that we can use when going away. So I need something to last for as long as possible that folds / isn’t to huge for travel. Ideally that comes by with a bag or has one I can buy to go with it.
Have seen a maxi cosi nomad one that goes until 4 ish. Most start from 3.5 etc which will be to big so wondering if best to go with nomad and then see / upgrade in a year or 2?

If anyone has any recommendations or tips it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you 😊

How much driving are you going to be doing? We had the Trunki booster backpack. Easy to carry through the airport and lasted til about age 10, depending how tall your DC are.

@NorthernTights It’s just going to be for holiday driving.. so every day to beach , evening restaurants, from airport etc… so I want it to be safe and comfortable. She is normal height for age.

Will take a look at trunki booster thanks.

What weight is little one? Legally can’t be in a HBB under 15kg and at just 3, very unlikely to sit safely with the adult seatbelt. I’d go for a lightweight foldable one like the maxi cosi or something like Joie tilt that can be put in plane hold

@PurpleSwizzle she is about 12/13 kg. I agree and think we need the maxi cosi so am going to get that as think we will get a couple of years out of it and you can’t put price on safety. I will check out the Joie tilt as well.. thanks for the recommendation and for confirming my worries.

We bought a graco extend ( I think it’s same as joie tilt) for travel. It doesn’t fold but goes rear and forward facing, and attaches with seatbelt instead of large isofix.

Just shove in car seat bag for flight. It’s light enough, but not for actual carrying around on trains etc. but fine if off plane and into hire car. I did look at the nomad, but wasn’t really happy with lack of rear facing ( we first used at 15 months), and no side support. The graco/ joie was only around £50.

Il swap it probably for chicco fold and go when Ds is older, but that’s not harnessed, so is more like 15kg and 4+

The nomad will probably be too small, I'd see if you can try before you buy.

Britax eclipse isn't a bad one to have because it's flight approved so you can use it on a plane which is more comfortable for them than the normal seat.

But if you want rear facing definitely Joie. The steadi has a bit of a taller shell so will fit for a bit longer.

@bertiebotts
I don’t want a rear facing as she isn’t any rear facing anymore.
Just want something light and easy to transport that is safe for age 3 plus.
Has anyone seen or know anything about the urban kanga?

I think the nomad, joie tilt ( can forward face too) or the urban kanga would all work tbh. It’s all just a question of how compact you need it and cost, all all are up to 18kg/4 years so only about a year or so use from it. But maybe more if she’s petite.

I guess from the three I would probably pick the nomad now if I was using for a 3+ year old. Like I said we needed from 15 months so went tilt route for travel, but your daughter is a fair bit older.

Can you take the seat you currently use? We’re just back from France having taken our 4 year olds (huge) rear facing seat, wrapped in bubble wrap in a car seat carry bag bought from eBay. It wasn’t too much of an inconvenience and we felt happier knowing that they were safe in a car seat they were used to.

I'd go for the Britax personally. The issue is if she's too little for a high backed booster but too big for an infant carrier everything will be somewhat bulky and awkward to transport. It's just an annoying stage because they need the protection but they aren't tiny and portable like little babies!

I think out of the Urban Kanga and Maxi Cosi Nomad I'd prefer the Maxi Cosi but neither of them look as though they offer much more protection than just being on your lap. Actually if she is 11-12kg, she might fit OK in the Maxi Cosi. It is smaller than a standard group 1 seat but not that much smaller.

We took the Britax TWE. We used it rear-facing but it forward faces too. We took it on holiday when DD was 3 and she still fits it at 7. It's light and has no load leg. It's also quick to install with a choice of how the belt goes so fits most cars. We wrapped it in bubble wrap and put it in a padded car seat back-pack we bought on Amazon (and watched out the plane window as the baggage handlers dropped it!). We took the cover off after each flight to check for damage.